Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-02-23
THE OUTRAGE MILL.
Memorialist Hackworth Testifies as to
Why He Hurriedly Left the
City Of Brennan.
Judge Kirk, the FIRST Witness for the De
Tense Put On The stand and Rig
idly Examined.
TEXAS INVESTIGATION.

TEXAS INVESTIGATION.
WASHINGTON, Feb 22.-Stephen A.
Hackworth, one of the memorialists, was
sworn. He is forty-seven years of age.
He was born in Washington county.
Is real estate agent. In 1870 he was
presiding Justice of the county. The wit
nesses Moore and Schultze, memorialists,
were most active Republican participants
in the last county election. In answer to
Senator Spooner the witness described
the shooting of the three colored mer
at Chapel Hill precinct in 1886. No
effort was made by the county officials to
apprehend the perpetrators OF the out
rage, nor was any reward ever offered
for them. So far as he knew the county
grand Jury never made any Investigation
of the matter. The usual Republican
majority in what was called Washington
precinct was about 1900. About O'Clock
in the evening at the last election the
witness heard that kilograms to Demo
cratic leaders showed the election had
gone Republican by an unusually large
majority. A short while afterwards word
came to the witness that Judge Kirk,
Democratic County Judge, was trying to
provoke 8 riot. He went 10 the place
and found Kirk doing his best to pro-
woke difficulty with Moore. Judge Kirk
cursed him brutally and told him to come
down the railroad track and he would
settle his hash. The witness told Judge
Kirk it was his duty as County
Judge to preserve the peace and
not to provoke q riot. Judge Kirk
had his hands in his pocket and
the witness could see the outline OF a
revolver. Kinks friends were standing
around with their hands at their pistol
pockets. Judge Kirk had his bulldozers
stationed around 50 the moment fighting
began Republicans would have been
killed. The witness and his friends I'M
ders :ood the game and took the abuse.
Judge Kirk had everything cut and dried
to provoke riot. Kirk was mad at be-
ing beaten. Later in the day Kirk and
other Democrats were in consultation,
and the witness became satisfied that
Kirk intended to organize gang aud de-
stroy the ballot boxes. Judge Kirk went
to FleWellyn that evening, and the witness
said it was the general sentiment Of the
county that the ballot boxes were de-
stroyed st Kinks instigation. The wit
ness was as certain OF 1t as anything. He
had not positive knowledge about 1t.
Inc MAJ mOIuluS WOItl IaLlS W DlCAuaIi
that Young man named Ford had been
killed while sitting in the election room
bv a negro, who had fired through
the window. A report was also Circu-
lated that the negroes had been told to
shoot any white man seen around the
election place. The witness knew the re-
ports were not true because the negroes
were afraid to shoot at the white men
cfa hgfnrp
would do it. Afterwards intelligence
came that the man killed was Devices
Bolton and the witness felt confident that
Kirk had been at Flewellyn, had or
ganized Bolton, Ford and others into the
gang and attempted to destroy the ballot
box and that it resulted in the shooting
Of Bolton. Bolton was a very intimate
friend Of Kinks and had but short time
before been in consultation with him.
Ford was another of Kinks friends. The
witness never knew of any effort being
made to discover and punish the authors
of the Outrages. Judge Kirk and his
friends circulated the reports that the
memorialists had instructed the negroes
to go to the ballot box armed and shoot
the white men who should be found"mon-
keying around it." Such reports caused
verY bitter feeling in the community.
If the colored men who were arrested
and hanged could have been tried on
Writs of habeaS corpus the witness was
sure everything would have been dis
closed and as to who rited the ballot
box after the lynchlng. Mr.. Lewis Bryan
told the witness it was impossible to keep
the bulldozers off of the leading Repub-
licanS any longer. The men who hanged
the negroes were determined men and
were organized. The witness said he was
unwilling to leave unless he could sell
his homestead. Bryan asked its price.
The witness said S2500 Bryan went out
TO try and sell it so that the witness
might leave. He came back the next
day and said the most he coulG get for 1t
was Sll50. Bryan told the witness at the
same time that men were gathering 10 do
him personal injury and advised him to
take the money and leave Immediately.
Bryan also told the witness Moore
must also leave and they (the Demo
Gratis would arrange to buy his
farm. The witness made campaign
speeches but no incendiary speeches. He
had charged that Judge Kirk was respon
sible for the stealing of the school fund, |
and that was the nearest be ever came to
making an incendiary speech. The wit !
ness still believes it was to conceal irreg- |
ularitles of this nature that Judge Kirk |
mad determined not to go out of office.
Judge Kirk was IN the habit of going to |
Republican meetings with six or seven
armed men. Some of these men were at
the time under indictment for murder. |
Judge Kirk was accustomed to demaud !
division of time. The colored Democrats |
once tried to break up Republican Con- |
vention, and afterward beat the Republic |
can negroes over the head with reVOlyers, |
one OF the assailsnts being convicted and |
lined. Judge Kirk paid the fine.
Judge Lafayette Kirk, County Judge !
Of Washington county, Tex, was next
examined by the committee. Judge Kirk |
has acted since the investigation began |
as one of the counsel for the Democratic |
side, aud the course of the previous tes-
timony has seemed 10 put him in the posi-
tioa of chief defendant IN the case. 1t
was he who was charged with having |
visited the Fleweilyn precinct when the
votes were being counted, about half an
hour before the raiders entered, on which |
occasion Devices Bolton was killed, and
it was he who. at the indignation meeting
at BRENNAN, introduced resolution re
quiring certain Republicans to cease
certain line of conduct or leave the